The Graphichttp://thegraphic.arps.org
Serving the Amherst Regional High School community since 1914.Mon, 20 Nov 2017 03:10:10 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.8Students gear up for Senegambian exchangehttp://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/students-gear-up-for-senegambian-exchange/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 23:33:30 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1174Interim vice principal Ericka Alschuler called the Senegambian Scholars exchange “a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience different African cultures and countries, meet new people and expand people’s worldview.”

Ms. Alschuler is the former faculty advisor for the Senegambian Scholars and traveled with the group to Senegal and The Gambia in 2016.

The Senegambian Scholars is an exchange program through which ARHS students and faculty travel to Senegal every other year. This school year, from February 10 to March 4, a group of about 15 students will journey over the Atlantic Ocean to experience life in Africa.

Leading the club and the trip are Bruce Penniman, former ARHS English teacher and site director for the Western Massachusetts Writing Project at UMass Amherst, and Momodou Sarr, a native of The Gambia, a retired ARHS special education teacher and assistant site director for the Writing Project.

Mr. Penimann and Mr. Sarr are the advisors and founders of the club.

This year, they will be joined on the trip by ARHS science teacher Aaron Kropf. Students have already started preparing by fundraising and receiving multiple vaccinations.

The club meets regularly in order to familiarize students with the culture and background knowledge that will help them on the trip.

They learn about Senegalese and Gambian history and culture, as well as relevant topics in literature and the sciences. Mr. Penniman emphasized that the club is not a vacation, but a powerful learning experience.

“It’s one thing to read about other cultures,” said Mr. Penniman. “That’s certainly an important thing to do. But it’s something a lot different when you not only go there but live with people, and then they come here and live with us.”

The trip starts in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal. Students visit Goree Island, off the coast of Dakar, where the slave trade took place.

“One of the most affecting sites on the whole trip,” said Mr. Penniman, “is what they call the ‘door of no return’, where you look out this door, which is the departure point of the slave ships and realize thousands of people went through that and then never saw their home again. It’s a pretty sobering place.”

Students also see more upbeat parts of the city like the Renaissance Monument, a statue of a man, woman, and child looking to the future. The statue is larger than the Statue of Liberty and towers over the landscape.

Other highlights of the time in Senegal include visiting Lake Rose, a naturally pink lake, and a visit to the nature reserve where students will see rhinos, giraffes, and lions. Students spend much of their time in Senegal in local schools.

Ms. Alschuler described one of her favorite days in Senegal as when her host family took her to a hair salon in the middle of the city. She felt a part of the society and culture in that moment, being in the middle of everything.

The trip can be fascinating but also difficult.

“In The Gambia,” said Ms. Alschuler, “there was a lot of corruption in the police, and we got stopped at every police station in every town. We got stopped maybe twenty times.”

Each time they were stopped, they had to pay a bribe to continue their journey.

The trip exposes students to the complexity of life in other countries–for better and worse. In doing so, it dispels many stereotypes Americans hold about the African continent.

“Much of Africa, to the West,” Mr. Penniman explained, “has a single story. ‘Africa is a place of disaster, it’s a place of poverty.’”

In reality, Africa encompasses an enormous range of cultures, landscapes, and traditions. Students will sample cities, such as Dakar, and smaller villages. They will see both the wealthy and the poor and hear about the triumphs and struggles of the nations.

New to the trip this year is that students will have a meeting with the president of The Gambia.

Zaim Elkalai, a junior at ARHS and member of the Senegambia Scholars, is looking forward to the trip. “I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I did not take advantage of the opportunity to visit Africa and learn about countries that are so different from anywhere I have ever been,” he said.

The trip benefits both the American and African students, who learn surprising cross-cultural lessons.

“Students discover, on both sides, that they have a lot more in common than what they imagined,” said Mr. Penniman. “I’ll never forget the first trip when our students got to Senegal and met their hosts and they started talking about music. They wanted to know what the Senegalese kids favorite music was, and it was Rihanna and Beyonce. And our students said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s ours too.’”

Mr. Roundy grew up in Washington and went to high school at Stadium High School in Tacoma.

He later attended the University of Puget Sound for his bachelor’s degree. After getting his bachelor’s, Mr. Roundy came to UMass to get his master’s in Latin and Classical Humanities.

Mr. Roundy has lived in Amherst since he finished graduate school at UMass.

“I like Amherst because it has very strong intellectual presence,” said Mr. Roundy.

Mr. Roundy teaches Latin in the morning at the middle school, then walks over to the high school for one class, and then finishes his day back in the middle school.

“I like the walk between classes because it’s a good way to break up the day,” said Mr. Roundy.

He also said that he gets to know more of the teachers in the district because of this.

Mr. Roundy took Spanish for his four years in high school, but once in college he took a course on Roman history, which he said hooked him on Latin and he continued to study it.

In Mr. Roundy’s spare time, he enjoys reading Latin and English literature, running, yoga, and role-playing games (RPGs), though his favorite hobby is rock climbing.

He is a regular climber at the rock climbing gym in Hadley and prefers to hone his skills on the bouldering wall.

He is a competent climber; V5-V6s are no problem for Mr. Roundy and he also has done a few V7s.

Hopefully Mr. Roundy will be a long-lasting edition to ARHS’s Latin staff, continuing to share and teach Latin with his students, a subject that he is passionate about.

Nell Wright

Nell Wright teaches Latin 1 at ARHS and writes children’s books the rest of the day. She also plays viola in the freshman philharmonia at ARHS.

Ms. Wright grew up and went to high school in Falmouth, Mass.

She attended college at Oberlin and finished her graduate at the University of Pennsylvania where first met Sean Smith, the world languages department head at ARHS.

Ms. Wright had not taught for four years but has returned with her experience from teaching in the Boston area.

“I started teaching high school because I couldn’t find work in a college,” she said. “[But] I discovered I really like high school students and haven’t looked back.”

The most challenging thing for Ms. Wright is entering grades into her computer.

Other than that she enjoys teaching at ARHS.

Outside of school Ms. Wright enjoys contra dancing, playing a lot of Swedish music, and speaking Latin with her friends.

]]>Interim English teacher Elizabeth Bull enjoyed teachers who “were there for you”http://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/interim-english-teacher-elizabeth-bull-enjoyed-teachers-who-were-there-for-you/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 23:24:22 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1200Ms. Bull moved to Amherst this fall in order to be closer to family after living in Miami for 22 years. She has been teaching for about 30 years, mostly in high schools.

And now she is teaching two sections of Tenth Grade Literature, Writing, and Public Speaking and one block of Creative Writing.

Ms. Bull hails originally from Minnesota.

Her father was a businessman who worked for Cream of Wheat; when the company was bought by Nabisco, they relocated to Connecticut so he could make the daily commute to New York City.

From kindergarten through ninth grade she attended a strict private school.

“It was a very good school, but strict, very regimented,” she said plainly. “It was just the way it was.”

At 15, Ms. Bull went to boarding school.

Though she acknowledged getting homesick, she said also that “you’d have a big brother or sister to help you get acclimated.”

“I had good teachers across the board. They would be there for you,” she added.

She talked about how, in fact, such teachers were a large influence on her decision to pursue teaching herself.

Though she majored in English in college, Ms. Bull thought about a career in law.

“Law schools accept many English majors,” she said. “Law and language are so closely related.”

However, after one year of working as a paralegal, Ms. Bull realized that she would rather teach English than go into law.

Eventually, Ms. Bull found herself teaching in Miami. She said that, much like Amherst, Miami is home to students from all over the world.

“Teaching in Miami was very exciting,” she remarked.

After moving to Amherst in 2009, and then back to Miami for work in 2011, Ms. Bull returned to Amherst in 2012 to stay.

Ms. Bull and I discussed her observances as a teacher in today’s world.

“Today, students are expected to make every minute count. They have less free time than my peers and I had.”

Despite time burdens, Ms. Bull has witnessed her students as being both “idealistic” and “altruistic.”

Knowing that the world her generation is passing down to ours is complicated, she nevertheless, she has hope for our ability to continue building a better, more just world.

She spoke of how the 1960s and 1970s, though tumultuous times to live through, were a period of change that moved society toward greater equality and justice.

With the fast-paced craze of today’s world in mind, she had this to say the younger generation.

“Give yourself time to be. Time to learn. Try not to get caught up in expectations,” she said. “And don’t be afraid to slow things down. Things tend to fall into place.”

And so, Ms. Bull has settled down in Western Massachusetts, hoping to stay for a good long while.

“Teaching at ARHS is a blessing,” she added.

]]>Aidan Owens thrilled to support inclusionhttp://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/aidan-owens-thrilled-to-support-inclusion/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 23:22:32 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1208At first glance, room 167 may seem like any other, but newly-hired special education teacher Aidan Owens explained that there is so much more than what one can see on the surface.

Mr. Owens teaches in both the PIP and AIMS programs here at ARHS.

PIP (Pathways to Independence Program) caters to students with complex disabilities and teaches important life skills such as self-advocacy, independent life skills, and vocational skills.

“My job as a teacher is to help give my students the skills to have a happy, successful, and an independent adult life,” said Mr. Owens.

The other program he works with is AIMS (Academic Individualized Mainstream Support), which is an academic skills program for students on the autism spectrum.

In AIMS, students work on executive functioning, community engagement, self-advocacy, and transition planning.

Originally from New York, Mr. Owens moved to Massachusetts to attend Hampshire College where he studied ethnomusicology, the study of music from different cultures, and special education.

“My main focus was on Ewe music from Ghana, and, specifically, teaching this music to students with disabilities,” said Mr. Owens.

He is currently pursuing his master of arts in teaching in special education at Mount Holyoke College.

Before coming to ARHS, Mr. Owens taught at a music school for young adults with disabilities.

“I have always been passionate about working with students with disabilities, and love to integrate the arts into my teaching,” said Mr. Owens.

“Working in special education and being a teacher is incredibly rewarding and I’m so excited to be a part of the community of teachers and learners here at ARHS.”

As a new teacher entering the school community, Mr. Owens says that he is “thrilled to be working at a school that is so focused on inclusion, student success, and social justice.” He explains that working at ARHS is great because of its supportive and diverse community.

Mr. Owens values the “strong sense of community and the norms that extend to all members of the school.”

He discusses the alternative lunch space in room 160 or clubs such as Best Buddies that provide a way for students to connect with peers that they may share a school with but not have an opportunity to interact with.

“I think it’s very important for students to reach out and get to know peers that they might not otherwise see,” said Mr. Owens. “I joined clubs like Best Buddies when I was in high school, and made friends that changed my life forever.”

As a special education teacher, Mr. Owens has been confronted with the incredibly negative and harmful stereotypes about his students.

“One of the biggest misconceptions I’ve seen about students in special education is that they are stupid,” he said. “The students that I work with are incredibly bright, capable, and unique young people, and are just like any other students in the school.”

Mr. Owens added that academic success is just one of the ways to be “smart” and that every person has something meaningful to give back to the world.

Connecting with students and seeing them succeed is the best part of his job but he acknowledges that there are both good and bad days.

“The hardest thing for me is feeling like I’m not reaching my students in the way that is best for them,” he said.

“However, this pushes me to always be reflecting on myself and my teaching, and changing what I’m doing so I can make sure all of my students are benefitting. Even on a hard day, seeing my students succeed and learn new things makes it all worth it,” added Mr. Owens.

He concluded by saying that his goal as a teacher is “to work toward creating a supportive and nurturing educational environment where all students, regardless of their background and needs, are given the tools that they need to succeed.”

]]>Paying to park: where does all the money go?http://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/paying-to-park-where-does-all-the-money-go/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:42:37 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1214“They’re expensive as hell,” said senior Zack Ellis of the $75 parking permits required of students at ARHS. “I just don’t want to buy one.”

Ellis is not alone. Many of the licensed student body are unwilling to thin their wallets and pay a hefty fee in exchange for a spot. “Parking should be free,” said Ellis.

Students who park for just half a year pay 38 dollars. When ARHS ran on a trimester schedule, students paid 25 dollars for each trimester they parked on school grounds. While free permits would be easier on student wallets, the cost isn’t going to change any time soon. Other students, like Lillian DeSilva-Beal, wonder: “Where does that money go?”

Information about the district and high school’s finances can be easily accessed on the ARPS web site where the budget for recent fiscal years is posted. Those documents explain that ARHS parking is budgeted as a revolving fund, which means money charged for parking permits goes into a fund dedicated to maintaining the high school parking lot.

Any money left in the fund at the end of the year “carries forward into the next year, and the fund remains open unless, or until, the revenue generating activity ceases to exist.”

The budget reports also state that “the fund is expected to build a reserve in anticipation of the need for ongoing maintenance of parking facilities and the eventual resurfacing [of] the lot.”

The fund currently sits at approximately $35,000.

While this might seem like substantial amount of money, an estimated cost of resurfacing the 150,000 square foot lot is around $1.50 per square foot. Even the replacement of parking lot lights in 2015 cost nearly $4,500.

Prices vary widely at other area schools. Northampton High School charges $30 a year for seniors, who are given first priority, and $35 a year for juniors. However, unlike ARHS students, many Northampton secondary school students pay $303 a year to ride the bus.

South Hadley High School also charges students $125 a year to ride the bus to school, which is equal to the cost of purchasing a parking permit for the year; students may also pay $150 for both a parking permit and bus service for the whole year. Six other area schools do not charge students for parking but do require students to register their vehicles and obtain a permit. Some of these schools operate on a first come, first serve basis, whereas ARHS gives preference to upperclassmen.

ARHS athletes and students, who have longer commutes in particular, often rely on their own transportation to get to and from school. “It’s a lot easier for me to get [myself] from practice back to my house because my parents work,” said Claire Basler-Chang, co-captain of the girls’ varsity volleyball team this fall. “For a lot of the student athletes it’s kind of a necessity to have a car.”

DeSilva-Beal, who splits her time between Shutesbury and South Amherst, finds buses leave for “the hilltowns” much too early and would rather drive herself and her younger sister to school.Mary Custard, a Dean of Students at ARHS, is involved in regulating parking at the high school. “We have tagged the cars with warnings and we’ll probably be doing that again soon. I know that there’s lots more cars out there than what we have permit applications for,” she said.Ms. Custard said that those who work in Central Office can eyeball the lot and tell if there are more students parking than are paying permit fees; when they are concerned about a discrepancy, they communicate that to her.“We really do have to tow,” she said. Sean Mangano, Director of Finance for the district, said that there isn’t a yearly goal for revenue generated and added into the fund, but rather the general purpose is to keep the fund “healthy” for inevitable expenses. As of mid-October, the dean’s office had only received 36 permits for 110 parking spaces. Yearly revenues listed in the budget reports do show a significant decrease in funds generated by permit purchases, something Mr. Mangano credits mostly to declining enrollment. Although faculty do not pay for parking permits, they are also required to have permits hanging from their rearview mirrors and they face the same potential consequences for not doing so. “We’ve warned faculty, too, because some of them forget, switch[ing] cars or whatever, and their permit is not in the window,” said Ms. Custard. Some students may have noticed the absence of cars being towed last year and so far this year, but others are still rightfully worried about potentially having to retrieve a towed car from Ernie’s Towing. Students can register for parking by getting a form from administrative assistant Susie Zygmont in the deans’ office in room 168 and paying the fees.Both Ms. Custard and campus monitor Marc Keenan will work together when the time comes to flag illegally parked cars; students will have to pay a minimum of $90 to retrieve a towed vehicle.Besides tagging cars with warning leaflets in advance of a towing spree, permit warnings are posted in the morning announcements and in the PGO newsletter, making it hard for students to plead ignorance about necessary permits.“At least a couple of cars [will have to be towed] so that people get the message. Even though we have threatened it, we haven’t wanted to do it. [But] we will have to do it because they’re not following the rules,” said Ms. Custard. “I believe that everybody driving knows that they’re supposed to have a permit.”

]]>Step by Step: new class helps ELLs navigate college application processhttp://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/step-by-step-new-class-helps-ells-navigate-college-application-process/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:39:17 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1209During the end of junior year or by the start of senior year, most ARHS students have begun the college application process. It is long and complicated, its stress amplified for students whose first language is not English.

To address this need, ELL (English Language Learners) department head Susan Abdow, guidance department head Lisa Zephyr, Assistant Principal Ericka Alschuler, and college advisor Myra Ross, supported by Principal Mark Jackson, developed a program to help ELLs navigate those murky waters.

Seventeen students, all seniors, were invited to the first series of classes, called Step-by-Step to College. The course contains vital information about the college application process and scholarship applications. There are also opportunities to practice essay writing. Six classes will be held from September 26 to March 13. Each class takes up two periods of the school day.

“The goal is to support former and current ELL students in making a plan for after high school,” said Ms. Abdow. For those who do not speak English fluently or have parents who did not attend school in the United States, the American education system can be extremely confusing.

“We’re trying to get away from the intimidation of this process. Our goal is to eventually expand this program to first-generation college students whose parents do not have a four year degree,” said Ms. Ross.

“In the past, ELL students have been on the sidelines of this process and wanted to jump in but don’t know how or what to do,” said Ms. Abdow.

The class is constructed in a step-by-step manner. “We can give personalized information to kids in a way that they can understand it,” said Ms. Ross. During a few of the classes, there will be special guests who come and discuss financial aid and their own personal experiences with the process.

“Most of them don’t have people at home that they can ask for help,” said Ms. Ross. “Kids came in often asking the same questions, and we felt if we were proactive about it, they would feel confident that they could get all their application work handled in a specific setting.”

Ms. Ross noted that it’s not ideal to pull students from class, but “after school, people won’t come because they have jobs, clubs and athletics. We figured out how to make the schedule so that we pull students from different classes each time.”

Marco Soares Delgado is one of the 17 seniors enrolled in the class. Born in Cape Verde, he came to America when he was 16 years old. He is looking to go to college after high school and then, possibly to be a teacher to immigrants himself.

Delgado is like most ELLs from Amherst, about 80-90 percent of whom seek a college education after graduating from ARHS.

Ms. Abdow said the class even brought in inspirational visitors who are former ELLs who have experienced success in college. One was an HCC graduate who attended Amherst schools. “Her story is amazing,” said Ms. Abdow. “She worked full time and went to school part time for four years.” Now she’s headed to a great school to finish her undergraduate education and hopes to go to law school.

Sometimes, the obstacles for ELLs are about citizenship or finances. “Some ELLs are undocumented so they don’t have citizenship or a green card. That means they don’t qualify for financial aid through the government or in state tuition in Mass.,” said Ms. Abdow. “They have to pay for community college.”

However, she said that Holyoke Community College offers scholarships to support undocumented students. Many transfer to Amherst College, Smith, or other local institutions after earning their associate’s degree at a community college. Ms. Abdow also said that universities with big endowments are often willing to financially and academically support ELLs in finishing their undergraduate degree.

“Learning about all of these options in class rather than through word of mouth has really helped students to see all the possibilities for their futures and educations,” said Ms. Abdow.

]]>Refugees in Distress eventhttp://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/refugees-in-distress-event/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:32:38 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1197On September 28, 2017, the documentary Syria’s Disappeared: The Case Against Assad, was screened at ARHS. The film highlights the mass-scale murder and human rights violations being committed by the Assad regime in Syria.

The film highlights Mazen Al-Hummada, a former prisoner of the Assad regime. Mr. Al-Hummada visited ARHS on October 2, in cooperation with the Refugee in Distress club and the Valley Refugee Relief group, to meet with over 150 students.

Junior Maggie Thibault met with Al-Hummada in her Anthropology class. “I was not educated enough on the Syrian conflict enough before the presentation,” said Thibault. “As a country we are not doing nearly enough to help Syria’s fight for freedom. It was pretty interesting to see how he could go from being in this prison where he faced torture to talking and advocating against it. It made me appreciate life and the things around me.”

Leif Maynard, a junior and local activist for Syrian refugees and peace in the Middle East, is part of the Refugees In Distress Club at ARHS.

“This issue is important. People don’t connect to atrocities abroad,” said Maynard. “What people don’t realize is the United states can make a difference”

Mr. Al-Hummada himself was born and raised in Deir Ezzor, Syria. He has been an activist since the earliest days of the revolution, when he began organizing pro-democracy rallies and documenting the brutal repression of demonstrations.

In 2012 Al-Hummada was arrested by the Syrian government and spent almost two years in the Assad regime’s detention centers, facing brutal mental and physical torture. After his release, he fled from Syria to Europe and now advocates for democratic reforms, peace, and persecution of the Assad regime.

During his visit, Al-Hummada held a number of presentations throughout the day.

Senior Liza Dubinsky got the chance to attend the presentation in her International Relations class. “I knew what was going on but I wasn’t aware of the scale these things were happening on,” said Dubinsky. “It was a powerful presentation. It definitely made me want to get involved and help them [Syrian people] get justic. Something has to be done to get them justice.”

Luiza Wolf, also a senior, said, “His courage to speak up is very remarkable. It’s not easy to speak up after going through something like this.”

It has been over six years since Syrian uprising against the authoritarian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad and five years since the peaceful protest demanding freedom, democracy and basic human right turned violent leading to civil war in the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated that over half a million people have been killed through Assad regime detention centers, aerial bombing, fighting between rebels, Islamist militants, and the Syrian Arab Army since 2012.

As of November 2017, civil war continues, leaving behind devastating impacts. Mr. Al Hummada’s visit shed light on this situation and left a deep impact on the student community at ARHS.

“When he came here, it was important to see how he holds so much strength and human decency,” said Maynard. “He’s been through so much but he still does so much advocacy work.”

]]>Teachers and students attend Challenge Success conferencehttp://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/teachers-and-students-attend-challenge-success-conference/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:26:20 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1184Challenge Success is an organization that has been focused on improving the lives of high-performing high school students they describe as “overloaded and underprepared,” for the past 15 years.

The Amherst Regional school district took an interest in this organization and the chance arose, thanks to a federal grant, for select members of the school board, staff, and student body to attend a Challenge Success conference, at Stanford University in California on September 14 through 16.

The conference was attended by nine middle school teachers and seven high school teachers including ARHS Principal Mark Jackson, ARMS Principal Patty Bode, ARMS Vice Principal Alicia Lopez, and ARHS department heads at the high school: Sara Barber-Just (English), Jane Mudie (Math), Nick Shaw (interim head in science). Superintendent Mike Morris, high school student Karrington Dowe, and his mother Georgia Malcolm, an administrative assistant at Wildwood Elementary School also attended.

The Challenge Success organization strives to not only help students be able to achieve great things in school and have a happy life outside of school, but also to “challenge the traditional notions of success,” said Mr. Jackson. The conference held 20 workshops on Saturday morning, many of which made an impact on Ms. Barber-Just and Mr. Jackson.

“Creating a Climate of Care and Community,” one of the workshops Ms. Barber-Just and Mr. Jackson attended, focused on the importance of strong student-teacher bonds and how they can be formed for all students.

One way that was discussed was having advisory leaders or mentors be teachers who volunteer (rather than all staff becoming advisors) for a daily mentoring program that allows for one-on-one check-ins. Although this cannot quickly be worked into our school community, it highlighted to teachers the building the importance of the relationships they have with students.

Another workshop Ms. Barber-Just was able to attend was called “Mindfulness: Enhancing Well-Being for Adults and Students” which focused on how to create an engaging, and low-stress classroom environment.

Ms. Barber-Just said the workshop was a mix of new learning and reinforcement of things she has tried and found helpful in creating a calmer classroom, such as playing relaxing music while students write, dimming the lights, bringing artwork and plants into the classroom, and spending “time at the beginning of every class creating a community environment that’s an intentional, productive, safe learning environment,” said Ms. Barber-Just.

This workshop moved Ms. Barber-Just to apply for a Parent Guardian Organization Big Ideas grant, which she was awarded, for $1,200, to bring a meditation and mindfulness trainer to the school.

Shalini Bahl, who runs the Reminding Project in Amherst will offer a whole staff introduction to the concept in early January and trainings throughout the year to staff interested in incorporating even small exercises into their classrooms. Bahl’s research and practice shows that using mindfulness practices in schools increases student health, well-being, engagement, and resiliency in school.

Karrington Dowe, an eleventh grader at ARHS, was the only high school student from Amherst who had the chance to attend the Challenge Success conference.

“I thought it was an amazing opportunity, I’m just really grateful I was chosen to go,” Dowe said. “What my group came up with was that building community in the ARHS community would really help, and students building relationships with teachers would really help.”

Participating schools are assigned a coach that keeps in contact for about a year. The ARHS group agreed to focus on student-teacher relationships, homework, the interworkings of our school schedule, and students’ feelings of connection or isolation from school.

The teachers who went on this trip have already began to discuss how they will implement what they learned and are looking forward to reconvening at the spring follow-up conference in Boston.

According to The New York Times, Maria also “obliterated the only tropical rain forest in the United States forest system,” Puerto Rico’s El Yunque.

Though the Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent aid, the U.S. military has sent a hospital ship, fuel ships, and other vessels with supplies, The New York Times reported that over one third of islanders were still without clean drinking water in late October. Electricity will not be restored to most until December or later.

Local people and private organizations such as the Bravo Family Foundation, have donated food, clothes, phones and other items. Celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Luis Fonsi have tried to spread publicity about the state of Puerto Rico and asked their fans to donate.

Staff and students at ARHS and ARMS, especially those with Puerto Rican roots, are feeling the pain of the disaster.

Paraeducator in the SSP program Ahmed Gonzalez has been staying in touch with his family through Whatsapp, a texting app for people in different countries. He said one thing his family has been telling him about is the conditions of the roads.

“There are mud slides all the time, so driving in the mountains, you’re basically risking your life,” he said. “There are some parts where the road doesn’t even have a railing next to it, even if it’s on a dangerous cliff.”

Donald Trump has been criticized for not doing enough for Puerto Rico, only visiting San Juan when he arrived on the island, and throwing paper towels in a disrespectful publicity stunt.

ARMS Assistant Principal Alicia Lopez said, “It makes me mad and sad to see how Trump has approached this tragedy. He is condescending with the people, he belittles Puerto Rico, and he even blamed Puerto Ricans for being in bad shape economically. He hasn’t seen the reality of the storm.”

She said her favorite parts of Puerto Rico are the beaches, the mountains, and the people, whom she describes as very warm and friendly.

Ms. Lopez encouraged people to donate to “online organizations” pledging support after the storm.

Both Ms. Lopez and Mr. Gonzalez also brought up a need for more military support.

“I think the government should put the army in charge until everything is up and running. [They have] the capacity to set up command centers, put up an electric grid, and restore communication. I can’t imagine why they have not done so yet,” said Ms. Lopez.

“They are currently [okay] but have been doing reconstruction on their houses,” he said. “My family started sending them bottled water, chargers, and batteries.”

Luciano, Mr. Gonzalez, and Ms. Lopez all participated in a Soup and Pizza Dinner and Celebration of Latino Heritage at ARMS on Monday, October 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Community members gathered for a free dinner and Puerto Rican dancing, but offered donations at the door that were sent to a non-profit agency providing aid to Puerto Rico.

“[People still need] food and water, and money helps,” said Luciano, encouraging students and staff to donate anything they can to help “make a difference.”

There are boxes in the main offices of many district schools where students and staff can drop off money, canned food, and other goods.

]]>Boys’ cross country: running on hearthttp://thegraphic.arps.org/2017/11/boys-cross-country-running-on-heart/
Mon, 13 Nov 2017 21:48:40 +0000http://thegraphic.arps.org/?p=1162The last hundred feet of the five kilometer race. It’s now or never. You can hear your teammates screaming, cheering you on, but you zone them all out. Your one focus is on the finish line. Your goal: to bring the state championship back to Amherst.

Cross country at ARHS has traditionally been a success.

In the 2016-17 season the boys team finished with an 8-2 record, and improved on that this year with a 9-1 record.

“The goal is to arrive at the Western Massachusetts starting line trained but rested and recovered,” said Coach Christopher Gould.

He also said, “The top three teams make the state meet. We were fourth last year and hope to avoid that position this year. We’re probably an underdog. Time will tell.”

Although the team may be an underdog, the team has a lot going for them.

The team’s top athletes are Jack Yanko, Aiden Foucault Etheridge, and Aidan Shea. Sean Towse and Owen Price are also expected to have big roles as the team prepares for the post season.

The best runner amongst these athletes is Jack Yanko.

According to Coach Gould, “[Yanko is] probably the best distance runner ever to come through this school.”

Yanko broke a 35-year-old course record and will be a solid contender for the Western Massachusetts and state title.

Karrington Dowe, a junior at ARHS, is also a member of the cross country team.

He is running as a member of the JV team, as he isn’t running to come out on top, but rather running so that he can be in shape for the upcoming indoor and outdoor track seasons.

Since Dowe is a sprinter, every other week he does his own sprinting workouts on the track instead of running long distance with the team, so he can stay in top sprinting shape.

He chose to do cross country because he said “it requires a lot of heart and endurance, and not just mental and physical strength alone.”

He also said that, “if I’m able to run three miles decently well, when track starts I could run a 200m or 400m easily.”

The team’s practice schedule consists of a variety of training and friendly competitions.

The team typically races one or two times per week, runs one long mileage day, (which is 8-12 miles for the top runners), and two speed workouts per week.

The big invitational races require a lot of mental preparation, so the team does have some down time before those races.

Coach Gould is also an impressive runner himself. He loves “the effort of running and the ability to interact with the outdoors.”

Mr. Gould said, “It helps me gain a sense of my own health and fitness and prepares me to race against others in my age group.”

Coach Gould is a member of the Greater Springfield Harriers, and two weeks ago they won the National 5K Cross Country Championships for the Age 50+ group.